2. Experimentation
2.1. Preparation of aerogels samples
Silica aerogel coated metal foam samples were prepared using a
dip coating method. Metal foams with pore size of 4.02 mm(5 PPI),
3.28 mm (10 PPI) and 2.58 mm (20 PPI) were used for this study.
Small metal foam blocks with dimensions of about 8 mm were
machined for coating. Wet silica gels were prepared using silicon
alkoxide precursor, tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS, Si (OCH3)4).
the formation of a wet gel by TMOS is presented by Eq. (1)